I saw one of the funniest videos in a while online on Monday. It’s the sort of short, hilarious viral video that helps rocket YouTube up the lists of the greatest inventions ever, but it’s important for another reason.
It made me appreciate the insane genius of Baron Davis, and adds to my love of the rag-tag, personality-rich NBA that exists now.
The only place I can find the video online is through Yahoo! Sports’ video section, but it’s the episode of IFC show “Framed” that stars the Golden State Warriors’ mercurial point guard. The clip, entitled “One Shot,” features Davis roller-skating on an outdoor basketball court in an outfit that came straight out of the late 1970s – headband, aviators, muscle shirt and nut-huggers. And roller skates. It’s goofy and epic and I wish I could favorite the clip on YouTube.
Content like this – including the pre-All-Star Weekend slam dunk contest videos by participants, and blogs by NBA stars such as Gilbert Arenas – have set the NBA apart. Pro sports always have small cults of personality, but the NBA often gets greater doses. Players are closer to the fans and are much more expressive when on the court than in other sports. The Internet revolution – which league commissioner David Stern fully embraces – just lets the fans get even closer.
Timing for the NBA’s ascendancy back into the American sports limelight couldn’t be better. What would you rather have: A league with goofy stars like Davis, Arenas, Greg Oden and LeBron James (go re-watch Nike’s “The LeBrons” ads), a league where athletes are getting arrested on a regular basis (Pac-Man Jones and the Cincinnati Bengals) and teams are trying to spy on one another (hi, Patriots!), or a league where players are arguing about who did or didn’t get poked in the butt with needles (New York Yankees rotation circa 2001).
The NFL and Major League Baseball are the ones getting called up to the principal’s office on Capitol Hill, on the same day last week even; can’t we give the NBA a little love for cleaning up its act? Can you really say with a straight face that the NBA has the image problem when you consider what the NFL and MLB currently face?
Sure, the NBA isn’t full of school boys and straight-laced straight-A students. But look around the league and see the stars: utterly focused competitors, dramatic high-fliers, pure and classic guards and a range of skilled and bruising big men.
Look at all the storylines surrounding the league right now, too: the wild Western Conference, three huge trades involving legitimate superstar players (Pau Gasol, Shaquille O’Neal and Jason Kidd), the revitalized Celtics and Lakers, and for us in the Northwest, the Blazers.
There’s no steroid scandal, no cheating (though the Tim Donaghy case has had surprisingly little follow-up from the league), a colorful cast of stars, an incredibly stacked West and a pair of heavyweights ready to duel in the East. Hell, in a season like this, the Raptors might be able to sneak into the Conference Finals and possibly shock the Celtics’ fairytale storyline – and who knows which team will come out of the West.
Dwight Howard’s athleticism, creativity and sheer joy as expressed in his Superman-inspired dunk contest effort encapsulates the Association right now. It’s a league of stars, and the worst they’re up to right now is making goofy YouTube videos.
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